Party on Saturday


It's that time again. Summer is almost over so join us for one last summer party at The Wave. Parties will resume in September at our old location Mavor's where new admission prices will be $7. Hope to see you all there.

ARC Family Day


ARC has booked the Tea Hill Provincial Park for a family day on Monday, September 6. The park has a children's play area with swings and slides, and with a few buckets and shovels the beach is an excellent spot for sandcastle building. We are hosting this event in an attempt to provide the community with some diversity in which we can socialize and come together.
We will be providing some music and will have BBQ's on site so you... can bring along some food for your family and friends.
The event is open to all ages and we hope you all can attend, we will be planning a series volleyball games and there is room at the park to have a softball game if enough interest is shown. We hope to see you all at our First Annual Family Day at the Tea HIll Provincial Park.

ARC Board of Directors.

Party on Saturday

An Open Letter To The Community

ARCPEI is a not-for-profit organization committed to providing services to the GLBTQ community of Prince Edward Island, and is operated by a Board of Directors as well as a small group of dedicated volunteers. We operate without Government or private grants/sponsorship. The ARC Board of Directors is taking this opportunity to address and update the broader community on PEI in regards to our current and future endeavors, current financial status, and to put a general call out for volunteers and board members.

ARCPEI regularly hosts dance parties in a safe environment for community members, their friends and supporters, and we plan to continue these dances. Our numbers having been growing stronger and we’re pleased to be able to provide the dances for our community to come out, socialize, and dance. A lot of work takes place behind the scenes, including countless volunteer hours from both board members and volunteers to ensure we continue to have an appropriate venue to socialize and dance. This summer, our dance parties are being held at The Wave, located on the UPEI campus. This move was necessary as our regular venue (Mavors Studio #1, at the Confederation Centre of the Arts) is occupied by a stage show for the summer months. We will be returning to Mavor’s in the early fall. We realize there is a large portion of the community that has been neglected in recent years, and we’re taking steps to change that. As the GLTBQ community on Prince Edward Island diversifies and grows, we are moving forward to ensure we grow as well. We’re working towards offering events other than our regular dances. We have developed partnerships with several other organizations and will be hosting a Family Day at Tea Hill Park during the Labour Day Weekend. We’re also interested in starting a Youth and Adult Volleyball League in cooperation with Stratford Town Hall. In early September we will also be holding a Jukebox Night at the Delta with music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. In the fall we will be selling tickets for a fundraiser spaghetti dinner, various theme parties are scheduled throughout the year, as well as Halloween, Christmas and NYE parties.

As a not-for-profit entity, ARCPEI typically operates in a deficit situation throughout the year, with Pride Week supplementing regular earnings and allowing a surplus to cover regular overhead and operating costs associated with ARC activities. Pride 2010 on PEI was a success with some very well attended events. Sadly, the funds generated failed to cover the costs associated with putting on Pride 2010. After careful review of both past and present financial statements, and keeping in mind that our cover charge hasn’t changed for 12 years, the decision has been made to raise the price of cover to $7 dollars, beginning in September. This increase is necessary to ensure we continue being able to provide events and services for the community. As an aside, the dances are volunteer driven; the DJs, door staff and liaison are volunteers. Here is a brief breakdown of the costs associated with the operation of ARC and events:

- Security Staff
- SOCAN Fees (for the music we play)
- Venue Rental Fees
- Liability Insurance
- Equipment costs, including sound and lighting gear
- Office Space Rental
- Telephone Lines and Web hosting fees
- Printing and Advertising costs

We have two more dances scheduled at The Wave, and look forward to seeing everyone out at our new venue. We’ll be returning to Mavor’s in September with an increased door charge of $7. We’re now in the planning stages for Pride 2011 and are currently seeking interested volunteers to assist in various activities including finding sponsors, fundraising and planning of both Pride and ARCPEI events. Please feel free to visit out webpage at www.arcofpei.com, or check out our Facebook page (Abeqweit Rainbow Collective) for more information and to contact the board directly. We also welcome input from the community at large. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many past and present volunteers and board members who have contributed to our everyday operations and events over the years.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events!

Sincerely, the ARCPEI Board of Directors

Wayde Lewis, Male Co-Chair
Jeff Fitzgerald – Treasurer
Eric McKearney – Events Coordinator
Alana Leard – Youth Coordinator
Rhonda Gallant – Pride Coordinator
GeorgaDawn Moase – Volunteer Coordinator
Chris Gallant – Administrative Officer

Haitus

Due to a technical difficulty with blogger.com I was not able to post any new topics in months. I missed quite a bit. (Carson Kressley on PEI for Regis & Kelly, a change of venue for dances and of course, Pride Week).

It's all good again, you can expect up-to-date information on all GLBT happenings here on PEI.